Zoltán Kocsis

Zoltán Kocsis (; 30 May 1952 – 6 November 2016) was a Hungarian pianist, conductor and composer.

Biography

Studies Born in Budapest, he began his musical studies at the age of five and continued them at the in 1963, studying piano and composition. In 1968 he was admitted to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he was a pupil of Pál Kadosa, Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág, graduating in 1973.

Career

He won the Hungarian Radio Beethoven Competition in 1970, and made his first concert tour of the United States in the following year. He received the Liszt Prize in 1973, and the Kossuth Prize in 1978. Kocsis recorded the complete solo piano works and works with piano and orchestra of Béla Bartók. In 1990 his recording of Debussy's two books of Images and other piano works by the composer won The Gramophone Instrumental Award for that year. He won another with the violinist Barnabás Kelemen in 2013 in the chamber category for the recording of Bartók's Violin Sonatas Nos 1 & 2.

American critic Harold C. Schonberg praised Kocsis' extraordinary technique and fine piano tone. According to Grove Music Online, he had "an impressive technique, and his forthright, strongly rhythmic playing is nevertheless deeply felt and never mechanical. Kocsis has a natural affinity for Bach, but is also a fine exponent of contemporary music and has given the first performances of works by Kurtág." of works by Wagner, Rachmaninov, Kocsis died following a long illness after undergoing heart surgery on 6 November 2016, aged 64, in his native Budapest.

Selected works

Opera Kopogtatások (1984–85) A vacsora (1984–85) Kiállítás (1984–85)

Orchestral and chamber music Premiere, for string orchestra (1976) Fészek (1975–76) The last but one encounter (Utolsó előtti találkozás), for piano and harpsichord (1981) 33. December, for chamber ensemble (1983) Memento, for string orchestra (Chernobyl) (1986) The last encounter (Utolsó találkozás) (1990)